5 Ways to Promote Mental Health with Your Kids During Summer Break
5 Ways to Promote Mental Health with Your Kids During Summer Break
Summer break can be a great time for kids and families. This can be an excellent opportunity to bond as a family, to explore, and to create lasting positive memories for your kids. It can also be challenging to find the proper balance of fun, relaxation, enrichment, and positive mental health.
Some important items that should be incorporated into summer break:
- Structure and Chores: Even though summer is supposed to be a break and a fun time, you still will want to have structure and responsibility. The chores can be simple and can rotate daily or can be steps towards a larger project that may take weeks or months. Trying to keep a schedule will also help to ensure that your kids don’t sleep until noon and waste away the summer. It will also make transitioning back to school in the fall much easier.
- Play: Kids still need to have fun playing. This is an important method for learning and improving social skills. It also enables kids to problem solve and explore. The play should definitely involve time without “screens” in front of them (unless it is a screen used to sift through a stream to find minerals).
- Bedtime: Many kids have bedtimes only during the school year. We all know school age kids that stay up well past midnight watching cartoons or playing video games. While it is true that they don’t have to get up early to get ready for school and to catch a bus, it is still important to ensure that kids are getting at least eight hours of sleep each night. This will help their growth and development.
- Give-back: Try to find opportunities for your kids to give back to the community and/or to help others less fortunate. This can become an amazing experience and also will help cement the importance of helping other people and other very important character building traits.
- Hobby: Summer is a great time to discover a hidden or yet to be identified talent or passion. It can be a new sport, activity, game, or even collecting something.
The above items will help your child to develop as a person, maintain physical health, help others, and promote positive mental health. Have fun and enjoy!
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Dr. Lena Pearlman & Associates provides therapy and counseling services for individuals, couples, and families of all ages. The practice specializes in stress, depression, anxiety, relationships, and other mental health related issues. Dr. Lena Pearlman and her team provide free training and resources to teachers, counselors and families in St. Louis county. Dr. Lena Pearlman & Associates can be reached by phone at 314-942-1147, by email at: bryan@stlmentalhealth.com or online at: www.STLmentalhealth.com. The address is 655 Craig Road, Suite 300, St. Louis, MO 63141.
